"Their Eyes Were Watching God" a Woman's Journey to Independence

“Their Eyes Were Watching God”

In “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Nora Zeale Hurston, the main character in this book was a woman whose name is Janie. Janie takes the reader through her journeys as she was growing up. I found this book fascinating and it is now one of my favorite books as it disrupted the standard social views of women/men and black/white. In Sharon Davie’s “Free Mules, Talking Buzzards and Cracked Plates: The Politics of Dislocation in Their Eyes Were Watching God,” she stated “Hurston’s text not only inverts the terms of accepted hierarchies (black over white, female over male) but – more significantly – allows readers to question, if only for a moment, the hierarchical mode itself.” (447)

In the beginning of chapter 2 in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” it described Janie as “Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the braches.” This set-up of Janie’s character gave the reader an idea of the journey that Janie would take throughout her life. Janie never knew her mother or father. Janie’s father was a white teacher who raped her mother at the young age of 17. Janie’s mother eventually ran away and left Janie to be raised by her grandmother. (8)

Janie as a child never knew that she was colored girl until she saw a picture of her and the white children who she played with. Her grandmother worked for white people and Janie would play with their children during the day. Then one day Janie and the other children were looking at a picture of all them together and Janie couldn’t find herself in the picture and then all of a sudden she stated “Aw, aw! Ah’m colored.!” “Den dey all laughed real hard. But before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah waz just like de rest.” Janie was an innocent child.(9)

When Janie was young her grandmother wanted her to marry to an old man who could provide Janie with stability and security. Janie did not want to marry this man as he was old and a lot older than her, but she as her grandmother wished. Janie realized that her dream of being married and in love was gone “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” (25)

Eventually Janie ran off with another man named Joe Starks, who she loved. Joe and Janie traveled to a little town named Eatonville, Georgia where Joe established himself a store, land and as mayor of the town. Joe wanted her submission and Janie was would did not give in and she learned to live with Joe. Then one day Janie and Joe argued and Joe slapped Jane and drove her from the store “So he struck Janie with all his might and drove her from the store.” (80) Janie was a woman now and did not believe that God didn’t listen or care for women. Eventually Joe died on her leaving her his store, house and land.

Janie was now a free woman with ownership of a store, houses and land, but she had never been truly in love. One day a younger man by the name of Tea Cake came into her store and they started a friendship that turned into love and Janie set out with Tea Cake to see what life had for her besides Eatonville.

Janie was a grown independent woman who accomplished free will, which was an exceptionally accomplishment for any woman, especially a black woman. Janie and Tea Cake made a life together for a short while working in fields doing manual labor until a Hurricane came and Tea Cake saved Janie from drowning and from a rabid dog.

At the end Janie was courageous and took care of Tea Cake and shot him when he tried to kill her because of the bite that he received from a rabid dog which he had saved her from earlier.

At the end Janie returned home without Tea Cake, she was a much happier woman who had experienced life. Most women black or white, rarely ever did experience life as Janie. This positive story of a woman and her strength, courage and her experiences throughout her life is a must read for everyone.

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale: “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
New York: Harper Collins 2006

Davie, Sharon, “Free Mules, Talking Buzzards and Cracked Plates: The Politics of
Dislocation in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Modern Language Association, Vol. 108., No. 3, (May 1993) (pg. 447)